A hangman's noose awaits his twin, but no sympathy from the prodigal brother
Gosia Kaszubska
October 23, 2004
KHOA Nguyen's twin brother has been sentenced to death for a crime he says he committed to settle Khoa's debts.

But as Tuong Van Nguyen, 24, spent another day on death row in a Singapore jail yesterday, Khoa showed little grief or guilt, claiming he knew nothing of his sibling's ill-fated heroin-smuggling attempt.

The cause of death.The person guillotined becomes unconscious very quickly and dies from shock and anoxia due to haemorrhage and loss of blood pressure within less than 60 seconds. It has often been reported that the eyes and mouths of people beheaded have shown signs of movement. It has been calculated that the human brain has enough oxygen stored for metabolism to persist about seven seconds after the supply is cut off. As in hanging the heart continues to beat for some time after decapitation.Various experiments have been made on guillotined heads and generally seem to show that little consciousness remains after 2 - 5 seconds of separation from the body although some have concluded that the head retains feeling for much longer. Whatever the truth, guillotining is probably one of the least cruel methods of execution and yet one that has a high deterrent value because it is perceived as gruesome.

Or..........

Execution protocols.Protocols varied widely depending on the state or county in which the hanging took place.In many counties, during the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, the county sheriff officiated as the hangman but was seldom good at it as he carried out so few executions. This led to a lot of bungled hangings.

Four methods of judicial hanging have been used in America.

The Short drop.Up to the 1850's most hangings were carried out little or no drop - often just 1 - 2 feet, the prisoner being hanged from a tree after being turned off the back of a cart, ladder or horse. This normally resulted in death by either strangulation or Carotid or Vagal reflex (pressure on the Carotid artery and or Vagal nerve which cause very rapid unconsciousness and cardiac arrest.

Standard drop.A standard drop of around 4 - 5 feet was used in many hangings during the later part of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. A drop of this distance was rarely sufficient to break the prisoner's neck and they died by strangulation although in a lot of cases were knocked unconscious by the force of the drop and the impact of the knot against the side of the neck. A standard drop of 5 feet was used for the Lincoln conspirators (see below) despite significant weight variations.

Long drop.This was copied from England and was used in the 20th century by some states. It involved dropping the prisoner an exact measured length which was calculated according to their weight and modified if required to take account of their physique. The force of the drop combined with the position of the knot below their left ear was designed to break the prisoner's neck and thus cause instant unconsciousness, followed rapidly by death. The US Army manual gives a table of drops (see below) and this was used for the three post 1977 hangings.The prisoner is weighed prior to execution and their weight in pounds (less an allowance of 14 pounds for the head) divided into 1020 to arrive at a drop in feet.

Sudden suspensionInstead of the conventional gallows that dropped the prisoner through a trap door, some states used a method where weights connected to the rope jerked prisoner upwards when the weights were released by the hangman. This method was used in 1874, for the hanging of William E. Udderzook in West Chester, Pennsylvania and also for Charles Thiede in Utah in 1896.Connecticut used a similar arrangement for the execution of Gerald Chapman at Weathersfield on April 26th 1926. A weight was connected to the rope and this was released by the warden operating a lever with his foot. Chapman was hoisted 12 feet into the air and his neck was broken by the force of this.This gallows had been modified for Chapman's hanging. From 1894 it had been operated by buckshot which was released by the weight of the prisoner standing on the trap. The shot ran down a chute until there was sufficient weight of shot to trigger the mechanism which then released the weight and shot the prisoner 6 feet into the air

It really beggars belief that anyone, especially an Asian, would not consider the risks involved in drug smuggling. EVERYBODY knows that Asian nations have capital punishment and they use it.

Yep, he knew the price and still chose to take the risk. If you play with fire, don't whine about getting burned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ben_hall

Furthermore Downer is exactly the type of pathetic sobber that slobbers over every dead heroin addict. The Singaporeans try to stamp it out and he slobbers over some scumbag drug trafficker. No wonder the Asians think we're weak and pathetic.

"Little Shirley Temple" Downer (a man who truly lives up to his name) should keep his trap shut. This man knowingly committed a serious crime in a foreign country. That country can do whatever they like with him.

The Death sentence is something that Australia should have. We should have not removed it in the first place. It is the only form of fitting punishment that can be given to these types.

Absolutely 100% in agreement Brew. The do-gooders miss the point with hard drugs. The gear this guy was carrying could potentially be responsible for many many deaths. People whom are STUPID enough to traffic these substances deserve everything they have coming to them. THey know the risk BEFORE they make a decision to courier. I am absolutely apalled that our Government sees fit to stick its' beak into this issue, especially considering the culprit is A - GUILTY (Enough said) and B - NOT a 'real' Australian. He may be an Aussie by dint of the fact he has been naturalised, but his actions have voided the fact by engaging in a decidedly un-Australian act.

THE Australian government will appeal for clemency in the case of an Australian man of Vietnamese origin facing the firing squad in Vietnam on drug charges.

Tran Van Thanh, 39, was handed the death sentence by the Ho Chi Minh City's People's Court for drug trafficking on Friday. Two of Thanh's accomplices, who are also Australians of Vietnamese origin, Tran Van Viet and Pham Martin, received life imprisonment.

Two Vietnamese nationals were also jailed.

The five were arrested in June last year. Police are still hunting for two other overseas Vietnamese who were implicated in the case. Between February and June 2003, the seven-member gang, of whom two are women, trafficked heroin from Vietnam to Australia.

The two faced lying war criminal John Howard has pleaded with Singapore not to impose the death penalty on a heroin smuggling piece of diversity that has "Australian" citizenship. Have to love the multicult experiment don't you.

I wrote a letter to Alexander Downer on the 23rd of October about this and the following is the traitorous scum's reply -

Dear Mr XXXXX,

Thank your for your email dated 23 October 2004 concerning the death penalty imposed by the Singaporean government on Mr Nguyen Tuong Van. I have been asked to reply on behalf of Mr Downer.

While the Australian Government respects the right of sovereign states to pass judgements relating to crimes committed within their jurisdiction it will make representations when the death penalty is imposed on an Australian citizen, consistent with the Commonwealth's long standing opposition to the death penalty.